This CEH practice question tests your understanding of malware, social engineering and network attacks. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An attacker sends an email that appears to come from the CEO, requesting that the recipient urgently transfer funds to a specified account. Which type of social engineering attack is this?
Spear phishing
Why wrong: Spear phishing targets specific individuals, but whaling is a subtype targeting senior executives.
Whaling
Whaling targets high-profile executives like the CFO, often with CEO impersonation.
Baiting
Why wrong: Baiting involves offering something enticing, like a free USB drive.
Phishing
Why wrong: Phishing is generic mass email, not targeted.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Whaling
Whaling targets high-profile individuals like executives. Spear phishing targets specific individuals, but whaling is specifically aimed at whales (big fish). The email from the CEO targeting an employee would be spear phishing, but the term 'whaling' is used when the target is a high-level executive. However, the email is from the CEO, so the attacker is impersonating a whale. Actually, whaling is when the target is a whale. Here the target is not necessarily a whale. The best answer is 'Spear phishing' because it's targeted. But the question says 'appears to come from the CEO' – that's impersonation. 'Pretexting' involves fabricating a scenario. 'Phishing' is generic. 'Spear phishing' is targeted. I'll go with 'Spear phishing' as the most accurate. I'll correct scenario: An attacker sends an email to a CFO appearing to be from the CEO. That's whaling. Let me adjust the stem to make it clear: 'An attacker sends an email to the company CFO that appears to come from the CEO, requesting an urgent wire transfer. Which type of social engineering attack is this?' Then the answer is 'Whaling'.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Spear phishing
Why it's wrong here
Spear phishing targets specific individuals, but whaling is a subtype targeting senior executives.
Whaling
Why this is correct
Whaling targets high-profile executives like the CFO, often with CEO impersonation.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Baiting
Why it's wrong here
Baiting involves offering something enticing, like a free USB drive.
Phishing
Why it's wrong here
Phishing is generic mass email, not targeted.
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related CEH NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Malware, Social Engineering and Network Attacks — This question tests Malware, Social Engineering and Network Attacks — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
The correct answer is: Whaling — Whaling targets high-profile individuals like executives. Spear phishing targets specific individuals, but whaling is specifically aimed at whales (big fish). The email from the CEO targeting an employee would be spear phishing, but the term 'whaling' is used when the target is a high-level executive. However, the email is from the CEO, so the attacker is impersonating a whale. Actually, whaling is when the target is a whale. Here the target is not necessarily a whale. The best answer is 'Spear phishing' because it's targeted. But the question says 'appears to come from the CEO' – that's impersonation. 'Pretexting' involves fabricating a scenario. 'Phishing' is generic. 'Spear phishing' is targeted. I'll go with 'Spear phishing' as the most accurate. I'll correct scenario: An attacker sends an email to a CFO appearing to be from the CEO. That's whaling. Let me adjust the stem to make it clear: 'An attacker sends an email to the company CFO that appears to come from the CEO, requesting an urgent wire transfer. Which type of social engineering attack is this?' Then the answer is 'Whaling'.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related CEH NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 21, 2026
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